Theft deterrence for automobile or truck wheels, for example, is sometimes provided with a key type removal mechanism. One of the plurality of wheel bolts or nuts has a unique keying feature incorporated, and the bolt or nut can only be removed with a key carried by the vehicle operator.
Although anti-theft lock mechanisms such as these are effective against amateur thieves, professionals defeat them given a reasonable amount of time to do so. The present invention is designed to further thwart thieves seeking to remove vehicle wheels quickly.
There are numerous decorative caps for wheel nuts or bolts in the prior art. Some examples are seen in the Toth U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,272, the Lanham U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,202 and the Nolan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,266, for example. None provide the advantages hereinafter discussed in relation to the present invention.